Trip Your Day (This to be read before the one about Piran - not sure what happened)
Trip Your Day is the name of a fantastic little tour set up company in Ljubljana run principally by Petra Novak and two friends. From humble beginnings it is now well established with a van and a website. Petra is incredibly knowledgeable with humour and personality plus. And impressively good at parking her 8 seater van in small spaces. I met her last year when I visited Ljubjana, and decided that she would be the right person to showcase this area for us.
I will break our day into three episodes for Economy of Concentration Span. Both yours and mine.
By the time I managed to herd everyone into the van it was nearly 9 and we headed directly to Postojnska Jama (Postojna Caves). These are the largest caves in Slovenia, and the only ones accessed by a toy train.
The caves were discovered in the 17th Century and were carved out by the Pivka River over millions of years. There are stalagmites and stalactites and formations called curtains that look like the folds of drapes. Colour variations are caused by the concentration of iron, manganese and (oh , and something else, can't recall).
The cave system is 24.12 ks long and is made up of four caves interconnected via the same underground river. A stalactite or stalagmite grows at about 1 cm every 100 years. Think about that as you look at the photos.
We needed another layer of clothing as the cave is a constant temperature of 12 degrees (or 10 depending on which guide you listen to). Best to keep arms and legs inside the boundary of the train - safety first. You may think that there should be a few more rules given the environment, but as Petra said, the Slovenian attitude is that you just need to use common sense - unless (she said) you are Americans - she thinks they need a few more specifics.
The train heads into the cave for nearly 2 ks and then pathways meander through the columns and down about 200 meters below the level of the ground.
In addition, the cave is home to 'human fish' which are so called because they have lungs and gills, live about 100 years, with the slight difference that they can go up to 10 weeks with no food as they have an incredibly slow metabolism, and most of us can only get to lunchtime. They are blind. And albino. And kinda weird. I didn't hover too long looking at them.
Pretty exciting stuff down there though - like a huge fantasy land under the ground.
It was crowded with tourists, and we were lucky enough to be there early (well done Petra). Of course it goes without saying that these delicate environments are not to be touched - or maybe it did need to be said. A lady in front of me did touch one of the stunning columns and suddenly the lights went out - 'that was because you touched it!' I said. She didn't touch it again.
Interesting to watch cultural differences in queueing in these situations too - I've seen it before and coined the phenomenon 'Last One On Is A Donkey'. We have a lot to learn, us Kiwis.
Final note, pleased to say that none of us bought a Human Fish stuffed toy, although there were plenty to choose from in the stalls outside the entrance.
NB need to admit that two of the photos are not mine. Not saying which ones though.
I will break our day into three episodes for Economy of Concentration Span. Both yours and mine.
By the time I managed to herd everyone into the van it was nearly 9 and we headed directly to Postojnska Jama (Postojna Caves). These are the largest caves in Slovenia, and the only ones accessed by a toy train.
The caves were discovered in the 17th Century and were carved out by the Pivka River over millions of years. There are stalagmites and stalactites and formations called curtains that look like the folds of drapes. Colour variations are caused by the concentration of iron, manganese and (oh , and something else, can't recall).
The cave system is 24.12 ks long and is made up of four caves interconnected via the same underground river. A stalactite or stalagmite grows at about 1 cm every 100 years. Think about that as you look at the photos.
We needed another layer of clothing as the cave is a constant temperature of 12 degrees (or 10 depending on which guide you listen to). Best to keep arms and legs inside the boundary of the train - safety first. You may think that there should be a few more rules given the environment, but as Petra said, the Slovenian attitude is that you just need to use common sense - unless (she said) you are Americans - she thinks they need a few more specifics.
The train heads into the cave for nearly 2 ks and then pathways meander through the columns and down about 200 meters below the level of the ground.
In addition, the cave is home to 'human fish' which are so called because they have lungs and gills, live about 100 years, with the slight difference that they can go up to 10 weeks with no food as they have an incredibly slow metabolism, and most of us can only get to lunchtime. They are blind. And albino. And kinda weird. I didn't hover too long looking at them.
Pretty exciting stuff down there though - like a huge fantasy land under the ground.
It was crowded with tourists, and we were lucky enough to be there early (well done Petra). Of course it goes without saying that these delicate environments are not to be touched - or maybe it did need to be said. A lady in front of me did touch one of the stunning columns and suddenly the lights went out - 'that was because you touched it!' I said. She didn't touch it again.
Interesting to watch cultural differences in queueing in these situations too - I've seen it before and coined the phenomenon 'Last One On Is A Donkey'. We have a lot to learn, us Kiwis.
Final note, pleased to say that none of us bought a Human Fish stuffed toy, although there were plenty to choose from in the stalls outside the entrance.
NB need to admit that two of the photos are not mine. Not saying which ones though.
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